Results tagged “copshooting”

Police shot a gun-wielding robbery suspect in Brooklyn last night, at Howard Ave. and Marion St. According to 1010WINS, "Police say officers were canvassing the neighborhood after a report that two men -- one armed with a handgun -- had just tried to rob a 15-year-old...the officers spotted a man fitting the description and armed with a Glock 10 millimeter handgun." A police source tells the Daily News that cops told the suspect to drop his gun but the suspect "turned with the gun, and the cop shot him." Another witness said, "The cops started chasing him down the block. The cop was shouting, 'Stop or I'm going to shoot!' He tripped and fell. He was getting up. The cop shot him." The suspected robber is in critical condition at Kings County Hospital while the other suspect is at large.

A grand jury has voted not to indict an NYPD officer who fatally shot another officer chasing a thief through Harlem one rainy night at the end of May. Omar Edwards had just finished his shift and was not in uniform when he found a man breaking into his car. After a scuffle, he gave chase with his gun drawn, but was intercepted by plainclothes officer Andrew Dunton, who ordered him to drop his weapon. Edwards was fatally shot as he turned to face Dunton, and there are conflicting witness accounts as to whether Edwards identified himself as NYPD.

After police surveillance of two robbery suspects turned into a bloody gunfight, leaving four Jersey City police officers and one Port Authority police officer wounded and the two suspects dead, Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey noted that one of the suspects, Hassan Shakur, had a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun "a combat weapon. It's got a stock that's retractable. It had a strap on it where he had numerous shells on it. He was ready to battle." Comey added, "I don't know how many times a big city chief has to stand here and say we need help to stop these weapons from hitting the streets. This weapon is manufactured for no other reason than to hunt man. So we should stop being afraid of the NRA and start being afraid of our own rights."

After a woman set a pit bull on cops, prompting them to fatally shoot the dog in an Upper East Side public housing building on Tuesday night, there are some inevitable arrests: NY1 reports that the dog's owner, Milagros Martinez, and five others were arrested on "charges of possession of a controlled substance after police said they found crack residue in a crack pipe." Martinez was also previously evicted; according to the Daily News, she was "booted from her First Ave. apartment in April for not paying rent - but a judge let her back in." Apparently she was evicted because her husband was arrested "in a kiddie-toy drug bust," but was allowed back after paying back rent; Mayor Bloomberg said, "We had disagreed violently with the judge that let these people go back into their apartment." The News also spoke to the neighbor who claims she called 911 on Tuesday because she was "sick of the drugs" in the apartment; the woman felt bad about the dog's death, "I cried. But I feel the dog's probably in a better place than being with them."

The family of Omar Edwards, the rookie off-duty police officer who was shot by a fellow cop in Harlem on Thursday night, were grieving yesterday. A family friend told the Daily News that Edwards' mother said, "My son is dead, my son is dead. They killed my son." The friend also said Edwards' wife Danielle is "in pieces right now....For the sake of the kids, the family is trying to remain strong." The Reverend Al Sharpton, who has already called for a federal investigation of the shooting, is holding a vigil and rally in Harlem this morning.

Yesterday afternoon, police officers shot and wounded a subway panhandler after he stabbed a cop with a screwdriver. Apparently the panhandler first went to the undercover cops and asked for one a cigarette. The Post reports, "The 26-year-old officer [Tyrone Barrionuevo] flashed his badge and identified himself. Moments later, the crazed smoker pulled out the 6-inch screwdriver and tried to plunge it into the cop's chest near his shoulder." The incident occurred at the Utica Avenue subway station in Crown Heights.

A former NYPD police officer fatally shot himself after accusing his wife, also an NYPD cop, of having an affair with another cop. The NY Post reports that Cecil Ramsay, 51, confronted wife Dady Belfort, 47, and Edwin Chittick, 40, when the pair arrived at Belfort and Ramsay's home in North Babylon, Long Island. According to Suffolk County police, the pair denied an affair and Chittick said, "I'm not here to have an argument with you. I'm leaving." Belfort and Chittick fled in her car; from Newsday, "Ramsay fired at least three times at the moving vehicle. One of the bullets hit Chittick's hand. Neither Chittick nor Belfort returned fire." Ramsay then shot himself; Belfort reportedly didn't realize her husband turned the gun on himself and kept driving to take Chittck to the hospital. The altercation and shooting was apparently witnessed by a construction crew.

Police officer Rafael Lora faces up to 15 years in prison after a judge found him guilty of second-degree manslaughter for a 2007 shooting. Lora was off-duty when he confronted a driver who crashed his minivan into other cars on a Bronx Street. Believing that Fermin Arzu was reaching for a gun—and claiming that Arzu hit him and that he was being dragged by the vehicle— Lora shot Arzu, who later died. The cop had opted for a bench trial, instead of a jury trial; his lawyer had said he "acted professionally and was justified on the night in question."

A man accused of beating an off-duty police officer during a 2006 fight at a Bronx White Castle was acquitted of assault charges. Daryl Massey, who had pleaded not guilty, insisted he never touched officer Eric Hernandez. Hernandez, who was taunted and beaten by a gang at the fast food restaurant, had drawn a gun and did not drop it when a responding officer asked him to. The responding officer fired at Hernandez, who later died of his injuries. A jury deliberated for three days before coming to their verdict. Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said, "We are outraged and disappointed that this cowardly thug who was part of a wolf pack that attacked officer Hernandez and set into motion a chain of events that led to the officer's tragic death will not be held responsible for his crime. Everyone who participated in any part of this unwarranted and brutal attack shares the responsibility for the death of a good police officer and deserves prison time as a result."

After once promising actor Lillo Brancato Jr. was sentenced to 10 years in prison (possibly getting out in 5 years, with good behavior), he told his lawyer, "This is going to be good for me, this five years. I'm going to straighten myself out, put my thoughts together."

Lillo Brancato Jr., once promising actor whose descent into drugs led to a confrontation that left an off-duty police officer dead, was sentenced to ten years for burglary. He was found not guilty of murdering Officer Daniel Enchautegui (Brancato's associate Steven Armento, who pulled the trigger, was found guilty earlier in an earlier trial and is serving a life sentence). Brancato's lawyer was trying to argue his client should get time-served for the burglary conviction, since he had been in prison since the 2005 incident, but the Bronx DA's office said they'd fight it.

A Bronx man was shot and killed by the police after he refused to drop a baseball bat. The NYPD had been called to a domestic dispute "involving a weapon" at an apartment building Kingsbridge section of the Bronx. WCBS 2, which reports, "A 40-year-old man who lived at the building refused to drop a bat he was holding, and instead lunged at them." Police fired once, hitting him in the chest, and the man died during surgery at the hospital. Last month, the police fatally shot an emotionally disturbed person who wielded a folding chair; the NYPD later backed the shooting, explaining, "Basically, was there an imminent threat to life or serious injury? That is the defining statement.”

The NYPD is defending Officer Dawn Ortiz, who shot and killed a homeless man in Coney Island Thursday, saying that she was justified in firing at the man who was coming at her while swinging a chair. Paul Browne, spokesman for the department, explained, “Basically, was there an imminent threat to life or serious injury? That is the defining statement.”

A police officer shot and killed a man "wielding a chair as a weapon" in Coney Island yesterday afternoon. According to WCBS 2, "the shooting happened outside a church used as a truancy center after a group of students inside reported seeing the man walk into the lot and attempt to break into a car."

Yesterday, Detective Herman Yan testified in a Brooklyn courtroom about being shot during what was supposed to be a routine traffic stop on July 9, 2007 in Brooklyn. Yan, who in spite of being hit twice, fired his weapon, explaining, "I had to take action."